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Stories of the Federal Presence in New Mexico, 1900-1940

Dr. Holtby discusses how the federal government addressed modernization and the impact its decisions had on New Mexicans between 1900 and 1940. Changes in the economy, social relations, and the environment are examined to see how Native Americans, blacks, nuevomexicanos, and Anglos interacted with the U.S. government.

The complicated, often uncoordinated, and sometimes contradictory activities of the judicial, legislative, and executive branches are situated within a consideration of how government laid the foundations for the welfare state and the rise of corporate capitalism in the first half of the twentieth-century. The former is discussed through the rise of demands for veteran pensions as a precursor to social security, while the latter is traced to the origins of agri-business.